I
grieve for our nation, and the untold suffering that will be wrought. As
history has shown, you can possess the greatest armaments in the world,
but if your cause and motives are not right, only catastrophe will
result.

As the Bush administration moves toward certain war
in the Middle East—a war which I believe nothing good will come
from, a war which is unjust, unnecessary, and a war which will
undoubtedly widen, perhaps even into world war, thereby placing our
nation in dire peril—I have made a decision regarding my position as
Boone County Republican Chairman.

Wars are easy to get into, but very difficult to get
out of. They can sap the moral and spiritual fiber of a nation,
squander lives and resources, deplete scarce funds, cause undue
hardship on all involved, destroy families, and engender hopelessness.

I have questioned both the motives for military
action at this time, and the ever-changing, illogical justifications
presented to us in what has to be one of the greatest media propaganda
blitzes ever force-fed a populace. Any time ground troops are
deployed, serious questions must be asked and real answers demanded.
The jingoistic rhetoric we are receiving does not constitute
legitimate answers.

The consequences of our planned attack on Iraq (and
also probably Iran, given the size of our forces and their location in
proximity to Iran), should cause us all to pause. The Pentagon has
announced that we will hit Baghdad with a force almost equal to the
bombing of Hiroshima. Obviously many thousands of civilians will
perish, with untold thousands maimed. And for what? To liberate them?
To bring them freedom? Or democracy? Or is it to really secure the
world’s second largest oil reserve and establish a base from which
to subjugate other Middle Eastern nations? Is it also the plan for
Israel to use the cover of war to forcibly relocate the Palestinian
population (as has been publicly stated by some members of Israel’s
current government)?

How on earth have we arrived at this crucial
juncture in our country’s history? How has a war on terrorism been
converted into an attack on Iraq? What threat does Iraq pose to us? We
must lay the blame squarely on our congress, who according to our
Constitution, only has the power to declare war. For congress to cede
it’s war-making power to the executive branch is unconstitutional on
the very face of it and effectively destroys our three branches of
government. Circumventing our Constitution is very bad, and the
undeclared wars, which have resulted in our recent history, have had
disastrous results. Undeclared wars have no declared objectives, and
therefore can widen at will, and our foray into the Middle East will
likely set in motion a long-term wave of retaliation. Indeed, I
believe that the administration would like to entice Iraq into firing
the first blow so some justification could be paraded at the United
Nations. If the United States government can adopt this unreal
doctrine of preemptive attack on any nation, anywhere, at any time, so
can other nations! This is how world wars begin. If the President goes
into Iraq alone without a UN resolution, he will be in violation of
the war powers given him last October by congress which was contingent
on UN approval. A constitutional crisis will occur.

What we are about to do in the Middle East is
abhorrent to me. It is made doubly so since this is a contrived and
fraudulently justified war with hidden objectives. The coming mass
slaughter of innocents, the harm our own troops are being placed in,
and the potential for wars on several fronts have brought home to me
the sobering realization that by remaining Boone County Republican
Chairman, I would be giving tacit approval to this imminent war, and
tacit approval to the belligerent and reckless language coming from
the White House. The safety and integrity of our country outweighs
politics.

I therefore resign as Chairman of the Boone County
Republican Central Committee effective at noon, March 10, 2003. I do
not wish to be Chairman when this tragedy starts. I am not resigning
to placate those who have demanded same .I do not fear them in the
least. I was quite willing to stand and face an ouster vote. I am
resigning because I cannot support the Republican position on this
war. I only sought the position of Chairman originally in the hope
that I could recruit God-fearing, thinking, pro-life believers in our
Constitution to stand for office.

I grieve for our nation, and the untold suffering
that will be wrought. As history has shown, you can possess the
greatest armaments in the world, but if your cause and motives are not
right, only catastrophe will result.